Coating which is applied to a substrate, a solar cell, and method for applying the coating to the substrate

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a coating which has been applied to a substrate, comprising at least a first film and a second film which have been applied on top of each other and each comprise a transparent conducting oxide and an electron donor, wherein the second film comprises relatively at least 10 percent less electron donor than the first film. The invention also relates to a solar cell comprising a coating according to the invention. The invention further relates to a method for applying the coating according to the invention to a substrate, wherein at least a first and a second mixture which each comprise one or more precursors for a transparent conducting oxide and an electron donor are applied to the substrate, wherein the second mixture is composed such that relatively at least 10 percent less electron donor is incorporated in the film compared with the film deposited by the first mixture.

The invention relates to a coating which is applied to a substrate, asolar cell comprising the coating according to the invention, and amethod for applying the coating to a substrate.

It is known that, for solar cells, the upper electrode needs to meet atleast the following requirements in order to effect a good efficiency:

1. the electrode needs to have a high transparency for the incidentlight;

2. the electrode needs to effect a good conduction of the currentgenerated in the active layer; and

3. the surface morphology of the electrode needs to be such that theincident light is captured in the solar cell.

Known materials which can meet these requirements are the so-calledtransparent conducting oxides such as tin oxide, zinc oxide or indiumtin oxide. These are semiconductors with such a bandgap that light inthe visual spectrum is transmitted. In order to effect a rightconduction, and thus meet the second requirement, a limited number offree electrons are created in this material by addition of dopant and/orby creating oxygen deficiencies.

In order meet the third requirement, the upper electrode needs to havean optimal surface morphology so that the incident light is refractedand the distance covered through the underlying active layer increasessuch that the efficiency of the solar cell is considerably improved.

Such an application is for instance known from Japanese patentspecification 05 067797 in which an upper electrode is described whichcomprises tin oxide of which the dominant crystalline orientation is the(200) orientation, and with which an increased efficiency of a solarcell is effected.

However, recent research has shown that, with the upper electrodes usedin practice, which are also described in the Japanese patentspecification, the requirement of a good electrical conductivity of theupper electrical electrode is at odds with the requirement that theelectrode also needs to have an optimal surface morphology. It can beconcluded from this that the efficiency of the known solar cells is byno means optimal yet.

It has now surprisingly been found that an upper electrode for a solarcell can be developed which has both a good electrical conductivity andhas an optimal surface morphology, when the electrode consists of acoating which comprises at least two films which both comprises atransparent conducting oxide and an electron donor, and the contents ofelectron donor differ in the two films.

It has further surprisingly been found that, in contrast to what isknown from Japanese patent specification 05 067797, a (200) dominantorientation is no condition for an optimal capture of the light in thesolar cell and that a capture which is at least as good can be obtainedwith a dominant (211) and (110) orientation.

Although the (200) orientation and (110) orientation are dominant in anormal process control—as described in the aforementioned Japanesepatent specification—it has surprisingly been found that, under specificprocess conditions, such as for instance an elevated content of electrondonors, the (211) orientation becomes dominant. It has furthersurprisingly been found that a next film which is then applied to thisfilm ‘inherits’ this dominant orientation, even if the film wouldnormally not yield a dominant (211) orientation.

The invention therefore relates to a coating which has been applied to asubstrate, comprising at least a first film and a second film which havebeen applied on top of each other and which each comprise a transparentconducting oxide and an electron donor, while the second film comprisesrelatively at least 10 percent less electron donor than the first film.

The coating may possibly also consist of one or more films which havebeen applied to a substrate, while the composition of the coating hassuch a gradient over the thickness that the material applied latercomprises relatively at least 10 percent less electron donor than thematerial applied earlier.

The first film may have been applied to a substrate or it may have beenapplied to the active layer of a solar cell. Preferably, the first filmis applied to a substrate.

In the coating according to the invention, the second film comprisesrelatively at least 10 percent less electron donor than the first film.Preferably, the second film comprises relatively at least 25 percentless electron donor than the first film. More preferably, the secondfilm comprises relatively at least 50 percent less electron donor thanthe first film.

As an electron donor, oxygen deficiencies and/or the conventionaldopants can be used here. The first and second films may comprise one ormore dopants. In a suitable embodiment, the first and second films eachcomprise one particular type of dopant. Preferably, in the first andsecond films, the same type of dopant is used or only one of the twofilms contains a dopant and the other film contains oxygen deficiencies.Preferably, the dopants are chosen from the group of fluorine, antimony,chlorine, tin, zinc, gallium, boron, niobium and/or aluminum. Morepreferably, the dopants are chosen from the group of fluorine, chlorine,antimony and/or niobium, and still more preferably, the dopant comprisesfluorine.

Preferably, the electron donor is present in the second film in anamount of at most 13 atomic percent, and more preferably in an amount ofat most 8 atomic percent.

Preferably, the electron donor is present in the first film in an amountof at most 15 atomic percent, and more preferably in an amount of atmost 10 atomic percent.

As a transparent conducting oxide, the conventional materials can beused. The first and second films can comprise one or more types oftransparent conducting oxides. In a suitable embodiment of theinvention, the first and second films each comprise one particular typeof transparent conducting oxide. Preferably, the first and second filmscomprise the same type of transparent conducting oxide. The transparentconducting oxides are preferably chosen from the group of tin oxide,zinc oxide an/or indium tin oxide. In a particularly suitable embodimentof the invention, the first and second films comprise tin oxide.

As a substrate, the conventional materials can be used. Preferably, thesubstrate comprises a metal, ceramic, glass or a material comprising oneor more polymers, such as for instance a plastic. Here, the substratemay possibly have already been provided with a coating or assembly ofcoatings. This coating may for instance be intended for the improvementof the bonding of the transparent conducting layer or as a barriercoating which is to prevent diffusion of harmful elements. The coatingmay also consist of an assembly of coatings which comprises inter aliathe active layer of the solar cell.

The invention also relates to a coating which has been applied to asubstrate, which coating comprises at least a first film and a secondfilm which each comprise a transparent conducting oxide and an electrondonor, while the second film comprises tin oxide of which the twodominant crystalline orientations are the (211) and (110) orientations.

In that case, preferably, the first film is applied to a substrate or tothe active layer of the solar cell. Preferably, the first film has beenapplied to a substrate. In a particularly suitable embodiment, both thefirst and second films comprise tin oxide.

In the different embodiments of the coating according to the invention,in the second film, the average particle size of the crystals of thetransparent conducting oxide is 50-500 nm, preferably 100-300 nm

Preferably, the second film has a total thickness of 300-900 nmPreferably, the first film has a total thickness of 50-500 nm.

In a particularly suitable embodiment of the invention, the coating hasa total thickness of 300-1000 nm.

The invention further relates to a solar cell which comprises a coatingaccording to the invention. The first film may have been applied to theactive layer after which the second film has been applied to the topside of the first film. After this, a substrate is usually applied tothe second film of the coating for protection. In a differentembodiment, which is preferred, the first film is applied to asubstrate, after which the second film is applied to the top side of thefirst film Then, the active layer and the other components of the solarcell are applied to the coated substrate thus obtained.

The invention further relates to a method for applying the coatingaccording to the invention to a substrate, in which at least a first andsecond mixture which each comprise one or more precursors for atransparent conducting oxide and an electron donor are applied to thesubstrate, while the second mixture is composed such that relatively atleast 10 percent less electron donor is incorporated in the filmcompared with the film deposited by the first mixture.

Preferably, the first mixture is applied to the substrate, after whichthe second mixture is applied to the top side of the first film and thesecond film is formed.

The first and second film can be made with known techniques. Suchtechniques are for instance the plasma spraying technique, the chemicalvapor deposition technique, the plasma-enhanced chemical vapordeposition technique, the physical vapor deposition technique and theplasma-enhanced physical vapor deposition technique, where conventionalprocess conditions are used. In order to prepare a film which comprisestin oxide, these techniques can be used where for instance a mixture oftin tetrachloride, water, methanol and hydrogen fluoride is used.

EXAMPLES

The following examples illustrate the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows the X-ray diffraction spectrum (XRD) of a fluorine-dopedtin oxide-coated substrate where the tin oxide contains a high contentof electron donors. The electron density as measured with the well-knownHall measurement is fairly high at 6.5·10²⁰ cm⁻³, which results in agood electrical conductivity of the film However, the XRD spectrum showsthat the crystallinity of the film is moderate with a maximum intensityof only 500 at the (211) peak. This is only 5 times higher than thebackground.

For comparison, FIG. 2 shows the XRD spectrum of a film with a lowcontent of electron donors. This film has a measured electron density of4.2·10²⁰ cm⁻³. As can easily be recognized in FIG. 2, this film has amuch better defined crystallographic orientation with a maximum peak forthe (110) orientation. The intensity of this peak is approximately 2000,which is 20 times higher than the background.

FIG. 3 shows the XRD spectrum of a double-layer coating as described inthis patent. This coating comprises a first film with a high content ofelectron donors and a second film with a low content of electron donors.It is clear that the crystallinity of the coating is very good and the(211) orientation is present here with preference over the (110) and(200). This is a clear indication that the film deposited later with thelow dopant concentration ‘inherits’ its preferred crystallographicorientation from the film deposited first with the high dopantconcentration.

1.-24. (canceled)
 25. A coating which has been applied to a substrate,comprising a film which comprises a transparent conducting oxide and anelectron donor, wherein the film comprises tin oxide of which the twodominant crystalline orientations are the (211) and (110) orientations.26. A coating according to claim 25, wherein the average particle sizeof the crystals of the transparent conducting oxide is 50-500 nm.
 27. Acoating according to claim 25, wherein the average particle size of thecrystals of the transparent conducting oxide is 100-300 nm.
 28. Acoating according to claim 25, comprising at least a first film and asecond film which each comprise a transparent conducting oxide and anelectron donor, wherein the second film comprises tin oxide of which thetwo dominant crystalline orientations are the (211) and (110)orientations.
 29. A coating according to claim 28, wherein the firstfilm has been applied to the substrate.
 30. A coating according to claim28, wherein the first and second films both comprise tin oxide.
 31. Acoating according to claim 28, wherein the first film has a thickness of50-500 nm.
 32. A coating according to claim 28, wherein the second filmhas a thickness of 300-900 nm.
 33. A coating according to claim 25,wherein the coating has a total thickness of 300-1000 nm.
 34. A coatingaccording to claim 25, wherein the substrate is made of metal, ceramicor glass or of a material which comprises one or more polymers.
 35. Asolar cell comprising a coating according to claim
 25. 36. A method forapplying the coating according to claim 28 to a substrate, wherein atleast a first and a second mixture which each comprise one or moreprecursors for a transparent conducting oxide and an electron donor areapplied to the substrate, wherein the second mixture is composed suchthat relatively at least 10 percent less electron donor is incorporatedin the second film.
 37. A method according to claim 36, wherein thefirst mixture is applied to the substrate and the first film is formed,after which the second mixture is applied to the top side of the firstfilm and the second film is formed.